You are here

Home › Kepler Spacecraft News - NASA Approves Another Two Years of Operation

Kepler Spacecraft News - NASA Approves Another Two Years of Operation

May 16, 2014

Kepler may be down, but it's definitely not out. NASA has approved another two years of operation, looking at active stars, energetic galaxies and other targets. The failure of a second reaction wheel several months ago -- which disrupted the precision pointing that Kepler needs for its traditional planet hunts -- has led to a clever new way to keep the telescope steady: using the Sun's radiation pressure as a kind of third wheel. This limits observations to the ecliptic plane, but will keep Kepler harvesting exciting data. There's little doubt that it is one of the most successful space missions ever.